Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to generation of tactical routes, and more particularly to a method and system for generating geographic terrain routes that balance speed and exposure to potential threats.
Discussion of the Background
Soldiers planning tactical routes must ensure that each route allows them to remain concealed from enemy observers yet move quickly at the same time. Creating these routes is a challenging process that requires great effort with no guarantee of desired results.
First, soldiers must gather intelligence on the terrain to be traversed. Often, this comes in the form of topographic maps, aerial photos, incident reports, previous mission plans, and firsthand knowledge. Soldiers operating in areas with more attention and traffic may receive accurate, up to date maps; others, like Special Forces soldiers operating in remote terrain, may receive local maps that are often highly outdated. Soldiers have helpful acronyms to help them remember what factors to consider when analyzing terrain and gathering intelligence for route planning, such as OCOKA (observation, concealment and cover, obstacles, key terrain, and avenues of approach). Soldiers also analyze the contour lines in topographic maps in an attempt to visualize the lay of the land. Reading contour maps and visualizing terrain is a skill that takes years of training and practice to refine and use properly. Satellites and spy planes flying overhead provide aerial photographs that reveal critical details about the battlefield terrain, such as vegetation, structures, and enemy force composition.
Next, soldiers use the intelligence gathered to plan a route. Choosing a starting location first, often a forward operating base, combat outpost, or objective rally point, soldiers then plan routes one waypoint at a time. Many soldiers use digital mapping software, either on personal computers or global positioning system (UPS) devices, to place waypoints. Software then connects each subsequent waypoint placed by the soldier with a straight line. In complex terrain, soldiers are forced to look closely at the map, placing waypoints close together so that the connecting lines do not intersect buildings and other obstructions. Often, soldiers spend hours placing hundreds of waypoints in this manner, refining route legs and tweaking waypoints, until the route reaches the destination. At this point, a primary route has been planned, but that is not good enough; on top of that, soldiers will generate at least one more, and typically three more routes to account for contingent and emergency situations. These routes must still be fast and safe to travel but sufficiently different from each other to be expedient in the field.
Finally, soldiers traverse the route. Sometimes, route traversal will be preceded by a route reconnaissance where one or more scouts observe the avenues of approach used by the route for enemy action or other interesting intelligence. When soldiers finally embark on the route, there is usually no guarantee that the intelligence used to plan the route has not since changed drastically. Knowing this, each soldier ensures that he knows his current position at all times so that he can react quickly if the plan changes. Evidence that the plan can (and often does) change can be found in accounts of the Battle of Mogadishu, Battle for Baghdad, and countless others.
From the above description of tactical route planning, it is easy to see that planning tactical routes correctly is extremely difficult. Imagine how a soldier's workflow would look if assisted by a computer software tool for planning tactical routes. First, the amount of time and effort spent analyzing intelligence is decreased because the tool analyzes every single terrain cell. Second, the amount of time and effort spent meticulously dropping hundreds of waypoints for multiple routes is greatly reduced because the tool automatically generates routes. A soldier using that kind of tactical route planning tool would be able to spend less time on detailed planning and more time on other important tasks, such as route reconnaissance or mission execution.
However, soldiers have not had access to such a tactical route planning tool in the past. While many civilians benefit daily from analogous route planning tools (MapQuest, Google Maps, and Microsoft Streets and Trips) that help them plan fast and short routes along highway networks, soldiers have simply not had access to that kind of tool for military purposes.
The state of the art 111 tactical route generation suffers from the following important disadvantages:
Fails to suggest intelligent ground maneuvers. Although the state of the art for path planning and terrain awareness in the field of aviation is well-developed, the state of the art in providing similar tools for ground-based maneuvers is lacking. Few tools currently exists that suggest intelligent schemes of maneuver on the ground that utilize terrain information such as land cover maps and digital elevation models.
Fails to blend speed and concealment. During tactical movement, soldiers need to move quickly while remaining concealed, taking advantage of fast terrain that also provides sufficient concealment and cover. However, the state of the art commonly generates routes that aim to maximize concealment or speed with no thought as to how these factors could be blended to provide a more usable route. As a result, tactical routes created using state of the art methods often suffer from being too exposed when maximizing speed or too slow when maximizing concealment.